Necessary Roughness

6/27/2011 12:01 AM Eastern

By: By R. THOMAS UMSTEAD

USA Network takes a run at thesports-drama genre with Necessary Roughness.Unlike the silly 1990s college football-themedfilm of the same name, USA offers a more dramaticand character-driven takeon an off-the-fieldfootball storyline.

The series’protagonist isDr. Dani Santino(Callie Thorne),a sharp-wittedpsychologist who’s seemingly perfect life asa mother and wife gets upended when shecatches her husband cheating and her childrenrun into problems at school.

Her life gets even more interesting after shegoes out to a bar with her girlfriend and eventuallygets cozy with a bar patron, Matthew Donnally(Marc Blucas), who turns out to be thetrainer for the fictional New York Hawks pro footballteam. The Hawks are looking for a therapistto help self-centered, highly paid wide receiverTerrance “TK” King (Mehcad Brooks), who ishaving on-the-field troubles catching passesthrown to him.

Donnally convinces a reluctant Santino tocounsel the headache that is TK, who, amongother things, has anger issues which eventuallymanifest during one of his sessions with thegood doctor.

But Santino gives as good as she takes, andreveals some of her own anger issues in herattempts to reach the resolute King, whosedestructive actions test the both team and Santino’spatience.

Santino finds an unlikely ally in Nico (ScottCohen), the team’s shadowy professional problem-solver who often shows up unannounced todrag Santino into emergency situations regardingTK. Halfway through the premiere episode,Nico hustles Santino to Atlantic City in the middleof the night to rescue the troubled footballstar from a woman-tinged booze binge.

The doctor’s preoccupation with King leaveslittle time to spend with her two teenage children— who have some behavioral issues oftheir own — as well as her nosy, gamblingobsessedmother.

Sports fans looking for a lot of hard-hittingfootball action in Necessary Roughness will bedisappointed, as the first episode only offersa few minutes of on-the-field action. The mainconfrontation throughout the show is the battleof wills between the sharp-tongued Santino andthe cocky King.